Re-Visiting 2011: Lars Von Trier's Melancholia & the Performance of Kirsten Dunst's Career

2011 was a painful year for many of us invested in the Academy Awards. Yes, this was the year that Meryl Streep (undeservedly) won her 3rd Oscar over Viola Davis, the year Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close got a Best Picture nomination, and the year Michael Fassbender's raw, haunting turn in Shame was ignored completely. But among the many heartbreaks listed and unlisted, possibly the biggest heartbreak was the exclusion of Kirsten Dunst's transcendent work in controversial Lars Von Trier's poetic masterpiece Melancholia.
To be fair, Lars Von Trier and Oscar doesn't really go together. His films are painful to sit through (I don't mean this in that they're terrible, the subject matter is just dark), and not in the Academy's wheelhouse. Two of his films, however, have received nominations (Emily Watson for Actress in Breaking the Waves, and singer Bjork for her song "I've Seen It All" in Dancer in the Dark).

Melancholia is Von Trier's best film, and is the least intense, or depressing one in his long filmography. It's funny, because the film is about depression, and the end of the world, but it's a euphoric and very special experience. Not everything works, and there are some plot holes and moments that drag, but Von Trier's ability to pull amazing performances from his lead actresses is what really makes his films outstanding (His films are always focused on a woman). Kirsten Dunst continues the amazing streak of great female Von Trier performances, and ultimately, the film succeeds because of her work, and how it perfectly coincides with co-lead Charlotte Gainsbourg's. The two performances are like vines entwining around the same pillar, overlapping, but never strangling one another in fact, they compliment one another, reacting perfectly off of one another. As one character gets stronger, the other grows weaker; it's true poetry.

But as masterful as Gainsbourg is, it's Dunst who really steals the show, and that's probably because the film is a personal endeavor for the actress who has spoken openly about her bout with depression. She pours all of her past experiences into delivering the most painfully accurate depiction of depression set to screen in recent history. This is a performance that could've been played with loud histrionics, throwing things against the wall, and "LOOK AT ME I'M ACTING" dialogue, complete with some shots of her crying and being sad. However, Von Trier puts the camera down, and let's Dunst's face do all the talking, and these are the scenes where her acting is at it's strongest.

I've always been a fan of Kirsten Dunst, even when people claimed she was a bad actress simply because of her involvement in the Spider Man series (which, if I'm being perfectly honest, she was great in; they have yet to recreate the great chemistry between her and Tobey McGuire). However, many people aren't aware of Dunst's other work. She delivered one of the great child-star performances in the otherwise terrible Interview with the Vampire, and earned many accolades and raves for her work. In addition, she was quietly amazing in Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides, and again in Marie Antoinette, and delivered Oscar worthy work in 2009's little seen All Good Things alongside Ryan Gosling.

Sadly, she's an underrated talent in Hollywood, constantly overlooked to make room for Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams (as she was in 2011's Best Actress lineup). She did win Best Actress at Cannes for this role (making her the first American actress to win this honor since Holly Hunter in 1993), and a few major critic's awards, but she was undeservedly left out of the major awards race. It saddens me every time I walk over to my DVD collection and see the Melancholia case, I'm reminded of the great level of acting in this small film that was heralded by critics, and ignored by the Academy.

At least Cannes got it right